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Not even close. Ham was best ever at olb and lambert makes Harrison look like a pussycat.

Oh, give that a rest! NO ONE makes Harrison (I'm talking about his play on the field) "look like a pussycat". Take off the rose-colored glasses, and come back to reality. The greatest MLB I ever saw (I never really watched Lambert) was Ray Lewis. And even a prime Ray Lewis... Harrison (at his peak) had a comparable impact vs.

On a similar note, PLEASE don't discount players based on accolades. I'm not about to say that Ham/Lambert weren't all that, but anyone who watched Harrison or Greg Lloyd can say that they could've/would've played on those 70's teams too. And if they did, they would've reaped similar accolades.

Let's be honest--you have Joe Greene bringing heat from the inside, and Mel Blount mauling anyone on one side of the field (i.e. shut-down), and it wouldn't be hard for LBs to make some big plays.

I really enjoyed the group of Lloyd, Greene, Kirkland and Brown. I think that was probably the best 3-4 group I've seen. My favorite player on the team has typically been the ROLB - from Lloyd, to Porter, to Harrison.

I think that Harrison at his peak was probably the best that I've ever seen play. He absolutely owned the Ravens for a few years, and it was great to watch...

I really enjoyed the group of Lloyd, Greene, Kirkland and Brown. I think that was probably the best 3-4 group I've seen. My favorite player on the team has typically been the ROLB - from Lloyd, to Porter, to Harrison.

I think that Harrison at his peak was probably the best that I've ever seen play. He absolutely owned the Ravens for a few years, and it was great to watch...

Don't forget...

Maybe the best ever. A shame that group saw only 1 SB and won zero. I chalk that up to Cowher choking in the play offs. That was one hell of a LB unit.

Ham
Lambert
Russell

Kind of tough because of running a 4-3 instead of 3-4. Some automatically assume the above was the best LB unit even, but I don't think so. They were damn good, no question, but did have the advantage of playing behind the best starting 4 DL of the decade. Plus they had mad skills in the backfield, all of which making it easier for the LB to shine. But these guys were very small compared to the other groups. Yes, some will say if they trained in the modern world, they would also be bigger, but we don't KNOW this. Can you imagine a 220 lb MLB today? That's all Lambert was.

I'm gonna say the middle group was the best ever, especially if viewed as in the day before Kirkland weighed 300 lbs playing ILB. Before he got too heavy, he was amazing, combine with Greene and Lloyd in their primes. That group should have won a ring or two.

How about creating your best all-time 4-3 LB corp and 3-4 LB corp. Mix and match from any ERA.

Go!

3-4

Harrison, Timmons, Ham, Kevin Green

4-3

Ham, Lambert, Russell

I'd go a little more creative in the modern NFL and go with a 4-3 trio of LBs in Ham, Timmons, and Polamalu. With these 3, no RB, TE, or slot WR may ever catch a pass again.

And to get a little more creative with the 3-4, I'd consider transitioning LC to OLB.

This is really tough to come up with the perfect combo cause we've had so many good ones. It's also hard to question Woodley's playoff production.

And I know Kendrell Bell had a very short career, but could you imagine him and Timmons lining up side by side? Team would be so afraid of their QB getting hit by one of them, you'd have free rushers getting to the QB all over the field.

Jack Lambert, Jack Ham , Andy Russle were the best I've seen. Andy was older and played on some with pretty terrible Steeler teams but still made it to the pro bowl in those days. Andy obviously was older than the bunch that caused him to retire so he doesn't get the four Super Bowl history added to his resume.
I've gotten to watch them all and the second group of guys would have beed Kevin Green, Lloyd, Kirkland. James Harrison in my opinion made everyone else good around him so he carried the bunch of linebackers..........well, Farrior was no bum either. I guess you can say the same about Kevin Green too that he added so much more to the unit when he arrived.
I know Lambert, Ham and Russell had some hall of fame guys in front and behind them but, these linebackers got the job done with very litle blitzing and when it was a run oriented league back in the day. I guess you can make arguements for any of the groups but it sure is a nice arguement to have as a Steeler fan.